Method of manufacturing an engraved plate

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing an engraved plate used in intaglio printing, said plate being engraved by a tool, for example a laser beam, characterized in that the engraving tool uses data from a depth-map, based on a three-dimensional raster image of the document to be printed.

This application is a divisional application from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/487,026, filed Feb. 17, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No.8,230,786 and Applicants claim foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C.§§119(a)-(d) or (f), or §365(b) of European Patent Application No.02405452.0, filed Jun. 5, 2002.

The invention relates generally to the field of intaglio printing forthe production of security papers, especially banknotes.

More precisely, this invention concerns a method of manufacturing anengraved plate for intaglio printing of sheets of security papers,wherein a non-engraved plate is submitted to a programmed engravingprocess by a computer controlled engraving tool.

Traditionally, the manufacture of intaglio plates is a long and complexprocess, which begins with the hand engraving of a steel or copperplate, making a copy of this first plate, adding by chemical engravingother elements, making several plastic imprints of this final originalplate, welding them together, and going through an important number ofgalvanic bathes to obtain the final product, being the intaglio printingplate to be mounted on the machine. The whole process of platemanufacturing can take several months, and is therefore very long andcostly.

EP 0 322 301 offers a slightly shortened method of manufacturingintaglio steel plates, with an electro-erosion step. First, a copperdupe of the original hand-made copper plate is obtained byelectro-forming. Thereafter this dupe is used as electrode in anelectro-erosion process, wherein the electrode and the steel plate,which shall be engraved, are moved one relatively to the other. Thus,this method does not circumvent the long and difficult manufacture byhand of the original plate. This method of manufacturing plates isindeed not used in the security printing industry as the plates do nothave the required precision.

WO 97/48555 describes a process of the above-defined type for producingdeep-drawn steel plates, which avoids the hand engraving step. Surfacecomponents are chosen in a line drawing, the edge of the surfacecomponents defining nominal outlines. From each nominal outline to whicha nominal depth is allocated, a tool path is then calculated. Then anengraving tool, a laser or a chisel, is guided in such a way that a partof the surface of the plate corresponding to the various surfacecomponents is removed. A part of a surface component removed at apredetermined depth may be further deepened in a further engraving step,so that the depth of such a surface component is not necessarilyconstant. Nevertheless, the definition of the engraved pattern, as faras the variation of depth is concerned, is lower than the definition ofthe original drawing.

WO 96/26466 describes a method of manufacture of polymeric precursorplates of intaglio printing plates by photo-ablation which also avoidshand engraving. First, an image corresponding to the intaglio pattern isconverted to a mask which has opaque and transparent portions. Lightfrom an excimer laser forms on a polymeric workpiece an image of aregion of the mask, the transparent portions corresponding to theregions which are ablated in the workpiece. The mask and the workpieceare moved so as to provide scanning of the image. Since the mask is animage merely composed of transparent and opaque portions, this methoddoes not use information concerning variable depth, and does not provideprecise control on the depths of the engravings.

DE 10044403 discloses a gravure printing method producing a half-toneimage represented by irregular linear structures. In a first step animage in form of pixel data is provided and displayed by a computer. Adesigner analyses the image in terms of variable and various linearstructures. Then, the data corresponding to the linear structures arestored in the computer in a vector based data format. In a subsequentengraving step, the vector based formated data guide an engraving tool,thus engraving an intaglio printing plate, following the datacorresponding to the linear structures.

One aim of the present invention is to reduce the processing time andcost of the production of intaglio printing plates by circumventing thetedious steps of engraving vignettes and portraits by hand.

A further aim is to simultaneously maintain a high level of quality ofintaglio printing plates, as traditionally manufactured, that is to sayto obtain a very finely defined gravure.

A current practice in the security paper printing industry is toassociate more than one printing processes on a same security paper,that is to say to submit a security paper sheet to the plurality ofdifferent printing processes so as to render forgery more difficult. Asexamples of other printing processes used in the security printingindustry, and especially for banknotes, one can cite offset, screenprinting, foil application, and numbering.

It is a known fact in the security printing industry, that the intaglioprinting process causes a sheet distortion due to the high printingpressure needed to push the sheet of paper into the engravings of theprinting plate. The other above-mentioned printing processes used toproduce the same sheet do not cause the same distortion. As a result ofthis distortion, not all prints from different processes will be inregister on the sheet. The term “sheet” refers here both to individual,generally rectangular sheets of paper, and to continuous strips ofpaper.

It is a further aim of the present invention to correct this distortionso that the prints obtained by the different involved printing processeswill all be in register.

These aims are achieved by a method as defined in the introduction,wherein said programmed engraving process engraves the non-engravedplate according to the three-dimensional guiding pixel data (X, Y, Z) ofa master depth-map of a said plate, wherein said master depth-map isgenerated by at least one computer stored original depth-map, saidoriginal depth-map comprising a three-dimensional raster image of atleast a part of one said security paper, wherein an elementary engravingstep is associated to each three-dimensional pixel data.

The present invention is thus based on the use of a depth-map, which isa computer file, which contains a three-dimensional raster image of theengraving, on the use of a plate as a workpiece to be engraved and on atool receiving a depth-map information.

Preferably, the engraving tool is a laser engraving machine, and anelementary laser engraving step is associated to each pixel of theraster image. The depth of the engraving is specified by each pixel dataof the raster image. Successive engraving steps may follow a pixelcolumn of the plate, then the adjacent column, and so on. Sinceneighbouring oblique aligned pixels may exhibit the same depth,corresponding for example to a drawing line, the finished plate providesan image corresponding to intaglio printing, whereas the manufacturingprocess of the plate itself corresponds to a raster pattern.

The plate, which is engraved, may be an intaglio printing plate. Theplate, which is engraved, may also be a precursor of an intaglioprinting plate, which is thereafter further processed by metaldepositions as known in the prior art.

The three-dimensional raster image associated to a given security papercomprises information concerning the co-ordinates (X, Y) of location ofeach pixel, together with a depth information (Z), associated to thesame pixel.

It is obtained by processing one or several three-dimensional elements.These elements may be:

-   -   a) three-dimensional line patterns;    -   b) three-dimensional raster patterns, especially raster security        patterns;    -   c) three-dimensional elements composed of a number of flat        areas, embedded or not, of various depths and shapes;    -   d) three-dimensional scans of low relief.

Such three-dimensional line patterns may consist of strings of segments,each segment having its own specified length, width and depth.

The three dimensional raster patterns may be directly computergenerated, or obtained from scanned drawings or computer designeddrawings processed by an algorithm, which determines the depth of eachpixel of the raster pattern. The algorithm associates a depth to eachpixel so that the raster pattern is similar to line profiles observed inhand engravings.

The master depth-map provides for a plurality of repetitions of theoriginal depth-map(s) on the engraved plate and contains information ontheir positions in the plane of the plate. The master depth-map thus mayprovide for a number of repetitions of an original depth-map accordingto a pattern of rows and columns.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the masterdepth-map contains information about the sheet distortion resulting froman intaglio printing process and the parameters for the compensation ofsaid distortion.

The master depth-map may contain permanently pixel data for theengraving of a whole plate, in particular pixel data generated accordinginformation to compensate for the sheet distortion.

The computer may also store the original depth-map(s) corresponding toone security paper and the distortion correction parameters, so that themaster depth-map data are generated in flight during the engravingprocess, to save time and disk space.

Other particulars and advantages of the invention will further appear tothose skilled in the art from the following description of a preferredembodiment, referring to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the state of the art method ofproduction of intaglio plates.

FIG. 2 illustrates schematically the method subject of this invention tomanufacture intaglio plates.

FIG. 3 a illustrates a three-dimensional line, and FIG. 3 b illustratesa three-dimensional line pattern.

FIG. 4 illustrates a three-dimensional raster pattern.

FIG. 5 illustrates other three-dimensional patterns.

FIG. 6 illustrates a three-dimensional original depth-map.

FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, and 7 c illustrate an original depth-map.

FIG. 8 illustrates a master depth-map.

FIGS. 9 a, 9 b, 9 c and 9 d illustrate embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the state of the art processtraditionally used in security printing plants for the manufacture ofintaglio printing plates.

The first step is the hand engraving on a steel or copper die of animage with depth, like a portrait. This step requires months of labourby a highly skilled engraver.

The second step is to make a copy of this hand engraved die, and to addby chemical engraving other lines on the die. These lines can be acomputer generated security pattern to be printed during the intaglioprocess.

The third step is to make plastic imprints of this die. One will make asmuch imprints as there will be security documents printed on each sheet.

The fourth step is to cut the imprints to shape.

The fifth step is to place the said cut imprints in rows and columns,and then to weld them together, to create a multi-image plasticassembly.

The sixth step is to silver the multi-image plastic assembly.

The seventh step is to deposit on the plastic assembly a copper layer ina galvanic copper bath to produce a copper plate.

The eighth step is to deposit a nickel layer on the copper plate in anickel plating bath.

The product resulting from all those steps in this state of the arttechnology is a so-called nickel-alto, which will be used as a precursorfor the production of the nickel intaglio printing plates to be mountedin the intaglio presses.

FIG. 2 illustrates the main steps of the present invention, which willeliminate at least the first seven steps described in the state of theart.

The first step is to create an original depth-map which is generated asfollows:

-   -   1) Generation of three-dimensional elements with depth        information. These elements can be, non exclusively, of the        following types:    -   a. Three-dimensional line patterns. For example, these lines can        be composed of strings of segments, each segment having its own        specified length, width, and depth. FIG. 3 a shows an enlarged        portion of a line with variable width and depth where the depth        of each segment is displayed on the computer screen by its        colour, and in grey shades in this black & white printing of the        screen image. FIG. 3 b shows similarly a simple, computer        generated, three-dimensional line pattern with variable width        and depth.    -   b. Three-dimensional security raster patterns, for example        computer generated or produced from scanned hand drawings or        computer-designed drawings processed by an algorithm which        determines the depth of each pixel of the raster pattern        according to line profiles similar to those observed in hand        engravings, as illustrated in FIG. 4. For example, profiles can        be selected for each line or for any group of lines. Types of        profiles include, non exclusively, V-shaped and U-shaped        profiles of various opening angles, as well as square-shaped        profiles. The maximum depth of a line as well as the line        depth-line width correlation can be specified.    -   c. Other types of three-dimensional elements such as        three-dimensional elements composed of a number of flat areas,        embedded or not, of various depths and shapes (FIG. 5) or        three-dimensional scans of low reliefs.    -   2. Assembly of the three-dimensional elements into an original        file with depth information, as illustrated in FIG. 6.    -   3. Generation of an original depth-map. The processing of the        original file produces a single three-dimensional raster image.        FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, and 7 c display the same depth-map with        increasing zoom factor. The depth of each pixel is displayed by        its grey level. In FIG. 7 c, individual pixels can be seen.        Their size corresponds to a-resolution of 8000 dpi.

The second step is the generation of a master depth-map which includesinformation on the repetition and the positions on the plate of theoriginal depth-map, as well as information on the distortion to beapplied in order to compensate the sheet distortion that occurs duringprinting (FIG. 8) so that all printing processes applied to a same sheetwill all be in register.

The master depth-map is used by the engraving tool, which engraves theplate pixel by pixel. Laser engraving machines capable to transfer theinformation stored by each pixel are known to those skilled in the art.

The master depth-map data can be generated in-flight during theengraving, to save time and disk space. This is particularly useful whenthe master depth-map corresponds to a repetition of original depth-maps.

Those skilled in the art will understand that many variants of thedepth-map generating process are feasible.

The three-dimensional elements may be assembled into more than oneoriginal file, for example several separate files for non overlappingelements. The original depth-maps generated therefrom may be repeatedwithin the master depth-map according various rules differing from amere repetition in rows and columns.

The assembly of superposing elements into an original file anddepth-map, with a (X, Y, Z) information for each pixel, may obey tovarious rules, depending upon the wanted final visual effect, e.g. ifone element shall locally overlie the other(s) or not.

FIGS. 9 a, 9 b, 9 c and 9 d illustrate embodiments of the presentinvention.

In FIG. 9 a, the engraving tool is a YAG laser and the engraved plate isa polymer plate which serves as a precursor of the intaglio printingplate. The engraved plate is mounted on a rotating cylinder. The laseris moving in a direction parallel to the axis of the cylinder. Thecontrol of the laser movement and of its intensity as well as themovement of the cylinder are performed by a computer which generatesin-flight the master depth-map data taking into account the compensationof the sheet deformation which occurs during the intaglio printingprocess.

In FIG. 9 b, the embodiment is similar to the one described in FIG. 9 aexcept that the plate is mounted on a flat surface. The movements of thelaser and of the plate are parallel to the plate.

Engraved polymer plates are silvered and serve as precursors of Nickelalto plates in the nickel galvanic baths.

According to a variant, the plate to be engraved is constituted of alayered structure comprising

-   -   a metallic base plate    -   an adhesive layer    -   a polymer layer.

The polymer layer is engraved according to the process of the invention.Particularly suitable polymers for the engraving process are polyimidescontaining carbon black dispersed therein for enhancing the absorptionof the laser beam. This type of material permits a particularly highdefinition engraving. An example of a suitable material is the carbonloaded polyimide sold under the trade name “KAPTON” by “Du Pont deNemours”.

In FIG. 9 c, the embodiment is similar to the one described in FIG. 9 aexcept that the plate is metallic and that the laser is an excimerlaser.

In FIG. 9 d, the embodiment is similar to the one described in FIG. 9 bexcept that the plate is metallic and that the laser is an excimerlaser.

These embodiments are given only as examples and other embodimentsfalling under the scope of the claims may be developed by those skilledin the art. For example there may be a plurality of engraving toolsguided by the master depthmap, those tools working in a synchronous way,in particular there may be as much engraving tools as there are columnsof security papers on the printing sheets with said security papers.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A precursor plate for the manufacture ofintaglio printing plates for intaglio printing of sheets of securitypapers, wherein said precursor plate comprises a laser-engravablepolymer layer within which engravings of various depths and shapes areto be directly engraved, said polymer layer being KAPTON, a polyimidecontaining dispersed carbon black material.
 2. The precursor plateaccording to claim 1, wherein said precursor plate is designed to bemounted on a rotating cylinder of a laser engraving machine.
 3. Theprecursor plate according to claim 1, wherein said precursor plate isconstituted of a layered structure comprising the following layers: ametallic base, an adhesive layer; and the polymer layer.
 4. Use of aprecursor plate for the manufacture by laser engraving of an engravedplate for intaglio printing of sheets of security wherein said precursorplate comprises a laser-engravable polymer layer within which engravingsof various depths and shapes are to be directly engraved, said polymerlayer being KAPTON, a polyimide containing dispersed carbon blackmaterial.
 5. A method of manufacturing an engraved plate for intaglioprinting of sheets of security papers, wherein a non-engraved plate issubmitted to a programmed engraving process by a computer-controlledlaser engraving tool, wherein said non-engraved plate is a precursorplate according to claim 1 and wherein said polymer layer of theprecursor plate is engraved by said computer-controlled laser engravingtool to form engravings of various depths and shapes directly withinsaid polymer layer, said polymer layer being KAPTON.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 5, wherein said precursor plate further comprises ametallic base.
 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the engravedprecursor plate serves as a precursor for producing a nickel alto plate.8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the engraved precursor plateis silvered and then subjected to a nickel galvanic bath to form thenickel alto plate.
 9. The method according to claim 5, wherein, duringengraving, said precursor plate is mounted on a rotating cylinder of alaser engraving machine.